Day 7- The Ghosts of Employment Past (part II)

I had this strange stint that I did in between jobs in Chicago for a merchant processor (the companies that work with retail stores on their credit card services). And this is actually the true inspiration for the “Ghosts of Employment Past” blog series.

My dad recommended that job. He had a rep visit him down in Florida and he said it seemed like a good gig. It was kind of random for me. The company made my appointments for me in ALL sorts of neighborhoods in Chicago and I would go and show the business owner the company video. Then I would fax their processing statement to my sales manager in Dallas, Texas and he would tell me what to say to them. Six months into that, what seems like 90% of my customers (including my dad) were calling me because their rates went up or my company wasn’t saving them the money that I said (err… what my sales manager said) it would. There was nothing I could do but change my phone number. Up until recently, I was always baffled at how that job fit into making me a better person, it seemed like a bankrupt experience devoid of redeeming lessons.

So, this past summer I was at my weekly business meeting with Paul Rode, owner of Agave Kitchen in Hudson and he tells me that he is about ready to sign a new contract with a merchant processor. Immediately, I feel a fire fill my belly. I offered to look over his contract before he signed it and the next day I showed up at the meeting.

I had zero respect or interest in the merchant account rep. I learned to hate the credit card industry and anyone associated with it so I marched up to the guy and said “They are not signing anything until I look it over” to which he replied “Who are you?” I said “Don’t you worry about it” and marched off to a spot three tables away with my calculator and highlighting marker. About ten minutes and a phone call to my former supervisor later, I somberly walked back to their table and exclaimed “This looks pretty clean. I have to admit I am impressed. I mean, you could knock off this annual fee, but other than that this looks good.” The account rep asked me again who I was and I explained my history with merchant services and about what I am doing with WeatherVane Creamery. As it turns out, that account rep was the owner of the processing company and wanted more information on investing in WeatherVane Creamery.

Of course, I blew him off. I had a hard time believing that anyone associated with merchant processing could be genuine or honest. It wasn’t until months later that I sent him an email and invite to Empowering Taste- WeatherVane’s investor dinner. I basically kept him on the mailing list. And lo and behold, he was still interested but couldn’t make the event. So we had lunch the day before and he got to be my guinea pig for my presentation.

I gave him my presentation at the South Fork Café and we took a walk over to 120 South Main where the event was already taking shape and I showed him around. At the end of our lunch, he offered me three miraculous things, the first was to be an investor in WeatherVane Creamery for a 10% stake. He said he was flying out the next day to discuss it with his lawyer in Nashville. I have to admit, I was still skeptical.

Then, he asked me about my volunteer work. He said he saw some of it on my résumé. I told him about the Art Wagon here in River Falls that I volunteered with over the summer, the Big Brothers Big Sisters program that I have been involved with and, lastly, Al’s Run- the annual fund raiser for the Milwaukee Children’s Hospital that my family is involved with. His next question was “Do you need a sponsor?” I was baffled, not because I couldn’t believe he asked, but because I never got sponsors for my participation. I always just paid my $25 to participate, got my T shirt, and walked with my family each year. He said causes with children were close to his heart and that he would like to contribute $250. I told him I would email him the link to donate, not even knowing how I would do that or if a link existed.

Lastly, he asked me what I was doing for money while WeatherVane Creamery was getting off the ground. I responded with “That is a very good question.” See, my unemployment benefits had just ended that week, about 6 weeks before I thought they would. And I had to laugh about it. It was so ironically perfect for the money to stop coming the week of my investor event and I had kept a “The Show Must Go On” mentality about it. I had made a decision to put it on a backburner until after my event and refused to consider my next steps. In that moment, I had explained the situation to him and he suggested that I go back to selling merchant services for his company until WeatherVane got off the ground and said to come to a meeting to meet his managers the next week.

Holy cow. I mean, really. I had been applying to jobs, albeit relatively passively, every week for a year and a half without a real offers (although I did have a few good leads and interviews). It seemed so unbelievable that a job landed in my lap at almost the minute I lost my benefits. And it was at this moment that I realized why I had to have that crappy gig in Chicago years earlier. All of a sudden, a purpose for that job materialized and it was so that I could have this opportunity. And besides that, I had been talking about WeatherVane Creamery to everybody who would listen for that past year and a half as well. And here I was with the one person that I would say that I had treated badly in that timeframe, and he ends up being my investor. Just one random stranger one minute, and an angel the next- providing equity to my business, a donation to a cause that is important to my family, AND giving me a job. Who knew? And for that, I am grateful.